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MEMOKl^^^l^DRESSES 



LIFE AND CHARACTER 



FERNANDO WOOD, 

(A llErilESENTATIVE FKOM NEW YORK), 



UKl.lVKUI'U IN THK 



HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 



February l*S, 1881, 



i>uj;lisiii;d by okdek of C()N(;ues.s. 



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JOINT KESOLUTION tu pi iiit certain culo^icis di^livcit-d in Conp-ess upou the late Fcruaudo 
Wood, Matt. II. Cari)cut(M', and Anibio.se E. Biiruside. 

RemJred bij the Senate and flonse of liejireneiitatires of the United Slalen, of 
America in Congress amembled, Tliat tbero bo printed twelve tlum.sjiiul copies 
re,s])ectively of tlie eulogies delivered in Cori}^)'c.ss upon the late Fernando 
Wood, a Representative from tlie State of New York : Matt. H. Carpenter, a 
.Senator from the State of Wiscousiu, and Ambrose E. Bnrnside, a Senator 
from the State of Rhode Island, of each of which four thousand shall be for 
the Senate, aud eight thousand for the use of the House of Rei)re.seutatives; 
and the Secretary of the Treasury be, aud he is hereby, directed to have 
l)riuted portraits of the three above-uamed Messrs. Wood, Carpenter, aud 
Buruside to accompany their respective enloyies; aud for the purjxise of 
defraying the expense of engraviug aud printing the said portraits the sum 
of lifteen hundred dollars, or so much thereof as may be nece.sfsary, be, and 
the same is hereby, appro[tiiated out of any money in the Treasury not other- 
wise ajipropriated. 
Apiiroved, February 1.'), l6&-i, 



JUL 6 '?15 



'^^7^7^ . 



PROCEEDINGS IN THE HOUSE OF RErRESENTATIVES. 



February 14, 1881. 
The Speaker. It is the sad cluty of the Chair to hi-iiio- to the 
attention of the Honse the telegram which will he read. 

The Clerk read as follows : 

Hot Springs, Fchruar)/ 14, 18>'l. 
To Hon. Jordan E. Cravens, House of liepresentatives : 

Hon. Fkkxando Wood died liere last night at nine o'clock. 

8. A. STITT. 

The Speaker. Mr. Fernaxdo Wood first entered this House 
as a member forty years ago ; and if he had lived to the close of 
the Congress for which he was chosen, his term of service would 
have reached twenty years. 

Mr. Tucker. Mr. Speaker, on receiving this morning the rumor 
of the sad event which has just been announced, the members of 
the Committee on Ways and Means, over which Mr. Wood pre- 
sided for four years, waited for its authentication. Upon the intelli- 
g(Mice being confirined by the telegram which has just been read, 
the committee held a meeeting, at which I was instructed to offer 
for the consideration of the House the resolutions which I now 
submit. 

The ('lerk read as follows: 

Resolved, Tliat this Ilonsc has In-ard with (h'op rcgivt of the death ol'Hon. 
Fkrxando Wood, hite a Representative from the State of New York. 

liesolred, That a. committee of nine members Ite appointed by the Sjieaker 
to tak(>. order for snperintending tln^ funeral of Mr. Wood; and tliat, as a 
mark of respe(-t entertained by tln^ House for his memory, his rv'mains be 
removed from Hot Springs, Arkansas, to the city of New York in charge of 
th<' Sergeant-at-Arms, attended by said committee, who shall have full power 
to carry this resolution into effect. 

liesolred, That the Clerk communicate the foregoing resolutions to the 
Senate. 

Resolved, That, as an additional mark of respect to the memory of the 
deceased, the Honse do now .uljdurn. ^ 

Mr. Cox. Mr. Speaker, I rise to second the resolutions snbmitted 
by the distinguished gentleman from Virginia [Mr. Tuc^ker]. 
Death exists his baleful shadows across our chamber. He appears 



2 LIFE AND CHARACTEB OF FERNANDO WOOD. 

iu tlie very midst of our deliberations. He abruptly closes our 
legislative labors. 

Although the sad tidings announced by you, sir, were not alto- 
gether unexjiocted, yet, after all, such messages never fail to startle 
us with their suddenness. 

My colleague, who so recently left us, followed by so many sor- 
rowful forebodings, has now left us forever. His long and eminent 
public service — service in the great metropolis as its conspicuous 
chief magistrate for three eventful terms, and service in this Hall 
as the representative of that metropolis, beginning almost two score 
years ago — is ended. His demise leaves a void which creates a 
hush and an awe to which this House is unaccustomed. 

The committee of which he was chairman has been jirompt to 
recognize its great loss and his remarkable (jharacter. His expei'i- 
ence, his information, his presence, his courtesy, his dignity, and 
his courage marked liim as a debater, a statesman, and a man of 
great qualities, attributes, and energies. Disease did not, for it could 
not, close — only death did or could close — his distinguished career. 

He felt and knew when he left us, as he stated in his last speech 
on this floor, that he was nearing the closing hours of an eventfid 
life. He met death dauntlessly. 

As a mark of sorrow and sympathy, of esteem and respect to one 
of the foremost men in this House and in the country, the delega- 
tion of the State of New York will endeavor to have designated a 
day for such obsequies as will fitly commemorate the eminent char- 
acter of the deceased. 

I ask that the House may now take action on the resolutions sub- 
mitted by my friend from Virginia [Mr. Tucker]. 

The resolutions were adopted unanimously. 

The Speaker. In obedience to the instructions of one of the 
resolutions just adopted, the Chair announces the appointment of 
the committee, whose names will be read. 

The Clerk read as follows: 

Select committee to attend the fiineial of Hon. Fkijnaxdo Woop: Mr. 
Tnckcr, of Vir>^iniii: Mi". Frye, of Maine; Mr. Phelps, of Connecticut; Mr. 
Dnnncll, of Minnesota; Mr. Mills, of Texas; Mr. McKinley, of Ohio; Mr. Car- 
lisle, of Kentucky; Mr. Critten(l<Mi, of IVfcw York, and Mr. Iliitchins, of New 
York. 



PROCEEDINGS TX THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. 3 

Tlic Speaker. In rurtlicir obcdieuoe to oimof tlic resolutions just 
adopted, the Chair now declares this House adjourned, in respect to 
the meuKny of the deceased, Mr, Fernando Wood, till to-mor- 
row at eleven o'clock. 



February 19, 1881. 
Mr. Tucker submitted the following resolutions; which w(!re 
read, considered, and unanimously adoj)ted : 

Resolved, That as a mark of resix'ct to tbe memory of Hon. Frrxanm>o 
Wood, late a Kepreseiitative from tlie State of New York, and in order to 
])ermit the members and officers of this House to attend tlie funeral fi'om his 
kite residence in this city at three o'clock p. m. this day, at two o'clock p. m. 
this House will adjourn. 

RemliH'd, That the Clerk communicate the forej^oiug resolution to the 
Senate, Avith an invitation to the members of the Senate to Join the members 
of the House attending said funeral. 

The Speaker (at two o'clock p. m). The Chair desires to 
state that gentlemen who design to attend the funeral of their late 
fellow-member, Hon. Fernando Wood, will find carriages pro- 
vided by the Sergeant-at-Arnis at the east front of the House wing 
of the C^apitol. In obedience to the order adopted to-day, the 
House now, in res])(!ct to the memory of INIr. Wood, stands 
adjourned imtil Monday next at eleven o'clock. 



February 21, 1881. 
Mr. Cox. I ask unanimous consent to submit at this time a pro- 
posed order, to which I think there will be no objection. 
The Clerk read as follows: 

Ordered by the House of Representatives, Tliat next Sunday, at three o'clock 
in the afternoon, be set apart for the observance of the ceremonit^s in mem- 
ory of Hon. Ferxando ^Vo()D, late a member of this House. 

The Speaker. If there be no objection this order will be 
adopted. 

There was no objection. 

Some time subsequently the following wa.s adopted : 

Ordered, That the Clerk communicate the forej^oinsj; resolntiou to the Sen 
ate, with an invitation to the SiMi.ato to attend in tlif House at said luMir and 
participate in said ceremonies. 



4 LIFE AND f'HARACTEB OF FERNANDO WOOD. 

February 23, 1881. 
A message from the Senate, by Mr. Burch, its Secretary, com- 
municated to the House a resolution of the Senate accepting the 
invitation of the House to attend the observance of tlie ceremonies 
in memory of Hon. Fernando Wood in the Hall of the Houes 
on Sunday next at three o'clock in the afternoon. 



February 26, 1881. 
Mr. Tuf;KER. I ask the House to adopt the order which I send 
to the desk. 

The Clerk read as follows: 

Ordered, Tliat tlie. ceremonies fixed for Sunday (to-morrow) at three p. m., 
in eonimemoraiion of the late Hi)n. FKitXAxno Wood, he ]>ost)>oned nntil 
Monday eveninjj^, at eight o'cloclc, and tliat the Senate he advised of tlie 
(diange. 

The Speaker. The effect of this is to postpone the ceremonies 
until Monday evening, for the reason that the burial of Senator 
Carpenter takes place al)oiit the same time on to-morrow that 
it had been ordered there sliould be a session of the House. Of 
course the Senate and such of the members of the House as may 
desire to attend the funeral of the late Senator Carpenter could not 
do it and at the same time ])articipate in the ceremonies in the 
House under the original order. In view of that fact its postpone- 
ment has been deemed necessary. 

The order was aureed to. 



February 28, 1881. 

The Speaker. Tiie House will be in order. Rev. Dr. Ridlock, 
Chaplain of the Senate, will ofter prayer. 

The Chai)lain of the Senate, Rev. J. J. Bullock, D. D., offered 
the foilowinu' 



PROClCEDIKdS IN THE HOUSE OF BEPBESENTATIVES. 5 



PRAYER. 



Almii^litv and ever-livinii; God, who art the maker of our bodies, 
tlie father of our spirits, and the disposer of all events, we invoke 
Thy blessing to rest upon the serviees of this solemn oceasion. 

in Thine inscrutable providence during the last days of this 
Congress it liath seemed good unto Thee to remove from this world 
by the hand of death two of the most distinguished members of this 
National Legislature. We i)ray that these solemn events may be 
deeply impressed ui)on the minds and hearts of all those who have 
been associated with them in guiding and directing the affairs of this 
great country. May they be led by these solemn dispensations of 
Thy providence to consider their latter end and to see the impor- 
tiuice of being prepared for their departure when it is thy will to 
call them hence. For it is certainly true that it is appointed unto 
all men once to die, and after death the judgment; and that neither 
wealth, nor talent, nor high position can arrest the footsteps of 
death, the great destroyer of liuman hopes and human expectations. 

And we pray that we all give heed to the solemn warning that 
comes from the vacant chairs clad in sackcloth that were recently 
filled by those who are now numbered among the dead. We do 
beseech Thee, Our Father, that, seeing that life is so short and so 
uncertain, and that death and judgment and eternity are certainly 
before us, we may so live that when the sunuuons of death may be 
put into our hands we shall be ready to die in peace and in the 
confident expectation of a glorious immortality. 

We pray for the blessing of Almighty God, the Father, the Son, 
and the Holy Ghost to abide upon us, now and forever. Amen. 

The Speaker. The Chair will cause the order of the House 
under which this evening's session is held to be now read. 

The Clerk read as follows: 

SATUitDAY, February, 26, 1881. 

Mr. Tucker, by unaniinous conseut, submitted the following order; which 
was rcatl, considered, and agreed to: 

" Ordertd, Tliat the ceremonies fixed for Sunday (to-uiorrow) at three ji. ni., 
in comuieuKuatioM of the ; late Hon. Fkrnan'do Wood, be postponed until 
Monday evening, at' eight o'clock, and that the Senate be advised of the 
change." 



6 LIFE AND CRARACTEli OF FERNANDO WOOD. 

Mr. Cox, I am Jiret!ted by the delegation of New York Slate 
to present the resolutions for our action this evening, which I send 
to the desk. 

The Clerk read as follows: 

Whereas the House of Representatives hiis heard with feeliiiirs of unalfecteil 
f^rief the aunoiiucemout of the death of Hon. Fernan'do Wood, a Kepre- 
sentative in Congress from the ninth district of the State of Now Yorli : 

Resolved, That in the loss of our late associate in le<>islative life we deplon; 
one of the ablest counselors of our nation, whose long public service, begin- 
ning forty years ago, in municipal as well as in Federal life, wei-e given with 
energy, intelligence, sagacity, and courage to what seemed to him the best 
interests of his great city, the Empire State, and the entire country; and for 
his supreme and undaunted devotion to duty, even to the end of his illustri- 
ous career, and his nuswerviug loyalty to his convictions and to the Constitu- 
tion of our land, we desire to testify our nnaffected condolence with his family, 
his constituents, his city, and his State. 

Besohed, That the Clerk of this House be directed to present this i)ublic 
expression of the sorrow felt by this House in its loss to the family of the 
deceased. 

Resolved, That as a further mark of respect for the memory of the deceased, 
this House do now adjourn. 

Mr. Springer. I ask unanimous consent that the Doorkeeper 
be directed to admit ladies and gentlemen to the floor of the House 
durino; these services, and that the House take a recess for five niin- 
utes while this order is being executed. 

The Speaker. The gentleman from Illinois asks unanimous 
consent that the Doorkeeper be directed to admit to the floor ladies 
and gentlemen who are unable to find seats in the gallery. Is there 
objection? The Chair hears none. 

The gentleman from Illinois also asks that the House take a 
recess for five minutes. The Chair hears no objection. 

Accordingly (at eight o'clock and ten minutes p. m.) the House 
took a recess for five minutes. 

The recess having expired, the House resumed its session at eight 
o'clock and fifteen minutes p. m. 



ADDRESSES 



ON THE 



DEATH OF FERNANDO WOOD, 

A EBPEESEK^TATIVE FROM NEW TOEK. 



DELIVERED IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 

February "28, 1881. 



Address of Mr. TUCKER, of Virginia. 

Mr. Speaker: Death has cast the shadow of his dread presence 
over both Legislative Chambers of the Capitol. He has taken 
from this House one who was oldest in public service, and distin- 
guished for his ability and experience; and more recently has 
quenched the brilliant light of the gifted and eloquent Senator from 
Wisconsin. 

To-night, we are met to pay a just tribute of respect to the mem- 
ory of our late associate, Hon. Fernando Wood, a Representative 
from the State of New York ; for four years chairman of the Com- 
mittee on Ways and Means, and for nearly forty years a conspicu- 
ous figure in American politics. 

The broad, deep river which rolls its majestic waters to the sea, 
with scarcely a ripple on its bosom, tells but little of the move- 
ments of the mountain stream it once was, of the chasms it has 
leaped, of the precipices over which it has fallen, of the mountains 
through which it has cleft its way, of its devious course to avoid 
what it could not surmount, until in its well-defined channel it 



8 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF FERNANDO WOOD. 

becomes the source of blessing to all within the range of its benefi- 
cent influence. 

So is it often with "this pleasing, anxious being" of our common 
humanity. In its primary stages it is marked by vigorous, some- 
times vehement, struggles to free or avoid the obstructions to pro- 
gress and success. In the antagonisms of an early career criticisms 
just and unjust upon the motives to action generate hostilities which 
as life goes on are modified, alleged, or removed; and as we near 
the period when it shall empty itself into the eternal and infinite 
"life beyond life," we cease to strive and struggle, but with the 
momentum of an early, resistless force we may hope to achieve, 
with calm and self-contained power, the highest and noblest pur- 
poses of a pure and chastened ambition. 

To trace the career of so sagacious a public man as Mr. Wood to 
its early stages would be a matter of interest, as it always is to see 
how the germs of later success were laid in the experiences of youth, 
and thus to find how true it is that " the child is father to the man." 
My personal acquaintance with him, however, having begun in the 
Forty-fourth Congress, I have no materials from which to speak 
with accuracy of his previous life. I shall leave to some other 
member to do this more satisfactorily than in my ignorance of it I 
could hope to do. 

Feenando Wood was born on the 14th of June, 1812, just four 
days before the declaration of war against Great Britain. His infant 
slumbers in his quiet Quaker home in the City of Brotherly Love 
were broken by the sounds of war ; and I can well imagine that in 
his childhood, from hearing of the battles and victories of our then 
young Union, he imbibed much of that patriotic pride and devotion 
to his own country for which he was remarkable in his later utter- 
ances. 

In his boyhood tradition relates that when engaged in manual 
labor his employer predicted failure for him, because while at work 



ADDRESS OF MB. TUCEEB, OF VIRGINIA. 9 

with his hands his eye was fixed on a book kept open before him. 
This thirst for the information which reading affords indicated an 
early self-consciousness of fitness for higher work and for more im- 
portant functions. Before his majority he went into the shipping 
business, and by his prudence, sagacity, and energy realized a for- 
tune. In 1841 he first became a member of this House, being 
elected when the whirlwind of popular feeling swept Mr. Van 
Buren and the Democratic party from power and placed the execu- 
tive and legislative branches of this government in the hands of the 
Whig party. I was curious to see the position of Mr. Wood upon 
the sharply drawn issues of that memorable period. 

His first appearance was in offering a resolution of inquiry re- 
specting the rights of American citizens, said to have been unlaw- 
fully imprisoned by British authority in Van Dieman's Land, an 
inquiry indicative of his jealous regard for the liberty of his fellow- 

citizens. v 

He stood with the Democratic party against the re-establishment 
of the Bank of the United States. He spoke with earnestness 
against the perpetuation of a national debt; opposing all the ideas 
indulged in then as now of a splendid government as contrary to the 
simple and economic views of the fathers of our republican system. 
His opposition to a traiff for protection was very decided, and 
his thoughts upon free trade were boldly expressed. They were 
obviously inspired by the probability of that great change in Brit- 
ish policy which a few years later was carried by Sir Robert Peel 
in the overthrow of the corn laws forever. 
Mr. Wood said : 

The spirit of the age is tending toward free trade. The nations of Europe 
have recently become anxious inquirers into its political and social a3\-antages. 
The general assimilation of customs regulations, the mutual dependence of an 
unfettered intercourse, the beautiful and harmonious ^^-orklng of a system, 
beyond the control of ambition or avarice, would in time bind mankind m 
bonds of amity, good-will, and peace, driving war and fomine forever from 
the world. 



10 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF FERNANDO WOOD. 

This was the language of a young statesman, not yet thirty years 
of age ; and to the views thus expressed he consistently adhered to 
the end. 

He serv'ed but one term at that time. He continued to co-operate 
with the Democratic party, and after its schism in 1 848, he refused 
to follow Mr. Van Buren in that Presidential election as the can- 
didate of the Free-soil party. 

As a southern man, I should do injustice to the dead if I did not 
here mention that during the whole period of sectional strife prior 
to the civil war, when the free-soil Democracy and the newly-born 
Eepublican party assailed what the South regarded as her constitu- 
tional rights, Mr. Wood upheld the equal right of the South to 
participate in the settlement of the great domain for colonization 
by the old States which had been won by the equal contribution of 
the valor and treasure of the North and South. 

He was three times elected mayor of the city of New York, serv- 
ing as such in 1 855-56-57 and in 1861-'62. In this position he 
exhibited rare executive ability and acquired great distinction. 

He was elected to the Thirty-eighth Congress and subsequently, 
serving as a Representative in this House nearly eighteen years alto- 
gether, and was re-elected to the Forty-seventh Congress. 

Mr. Wood was a member of the Committee on Ways and Means 
in the Forty-fourth Congress, and led, upon reporting the bill from 
the committee, the friends of the measure for carrying into effect the 
Hawaiian treaty. Though I differed with him on that question, I 
take occasion to say he supported the measure with ability, and its 
success was largely due to his energy and activity. 

He was chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means for the 
last four years. His name is associated with the tariff bill which 
was defeated in May, 1878. But more especially will his name be 
associated with the bill introduced by him and referred to the com- 
mittee, and afterward in a modified form reported by him to the 



ADDRESS OF MB. TUCKER, OF VIRGINIA. 11 

House in March, 1880, for refunding the public debt, and which, 
with amendments, passed this house in January last. 

Whatever opinions may be entertained of that measure, no man 
iu this House can ever forget the manly, almost heroic, persistence 
with which, though tortured by a painful disease, and even when 
the stamp of death was visible in his face, Mr. Wood came and 
stood at his post day after day until the bill passed. It was touch- 
ing to hear him speak of it and of his connection with it as a triumpli 
for the public credit of our country. 

Nor will any of us ever forget the earnestness with which the 
dying man on the 15th of January last uttered these patriotic words, 
almost the last he ever spoke in this Hall, seemingly prophetic of 
his end : 

This nation stands to-day upon her imperial power. Her resources in the 
earth and above the earth, in the manly industry and energy of her people, 
are as ten to one compared with those of any other nation in the world. I tor 
one in the expiring hours of a public life of forty years, will never consent 
that this great country shall hawk its credit through the money markets of 
the world. [Applause.] 

He went away with little hope ever to return. He felt his life- 
work was done. He died tranquilly, in peace, without pain. We 
have committed his body to his mother earth ; his spirit has returned 
to God, who gave it. 

Mr. Wood's mind was active and vigorous. It was practical 
rather than philosophic, dealing more with the concrete than the 
abstract. His judgment and sagacity about men and things were 
marked qualities of his constitution. He had much general infor- 
mation, and while, from lack of early training and the mental dis- 
cipline which the higher education secures, his mind was not as 
accurate and logical as it might otherwise have been, yet his strong 
common sense, his keen and clear knowledge of men, and his large 
information on subjects of business and politics made him a wise 
and sagacious actor in the affairs of his time. 



12 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF FERNANDO WOOD. 

He had courage, fortitude, and a persistent energy which was 
successful for his projects, when men of more intellect without these 
moral qualities would have failed. 

His presence was striking ; his style in debate was impressive and 
dignified; his manners were courteous; and in the intercourse of 
the home they were genial and full of kindness. He was very 
decided in his opinions and strong in his convictions, and stout 
and brave in their assertion and maintenance. 

His hospitality was generous and warm. In all the relations of 
his family he was gentle, aifectionate, and true. 

It has been my duty thus to speak of Mr. Wood in his public 
relations, as I have known him for six years as his associate in this 
House and on the Committee on Ways and Means. 

Having filled the measure of his life, he has met its responsibili- 
ties and has passed away from these scenes of busy, active strife, for- 
ever. 

Brother Representatives, standing at the grave of our dead com- 
rade, let us resolve that we will meet our life responsibilities (the 
more solemn when we look on death !) in the fear of God and for 
the best interests of our common country! Let a pure love of 
country, our whole country, inspire that earnest and harmonious 
co-operation for the promotion of its real interests and its true 
glory without which all our labor will be in vain. In the presence 
of this solemn event and under a deep sense of our responsibility 
to our country and to our God, may it teach us so to number our 
days that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom ! 



Address of Mr. HuTCHiNS, of Nev/ York. 

Mr. Speaker : The members of the Forty-sixth Congress have 
three times been called to pause and contemplate the realities of 
death. To-day another vacant seat, dressed with the emblems of 



ADDRESS OF ME. RUTCEINS, OF NEW TORE. 13 

mourning, reminds us that we are gathered for a similar purpose. 
It might seem that this event, so common, would be viewed by us 
all M'ithout emotion. But this is not so. The heart, the head, and 
the hand join in this solemn tribute of respect for the dead. When 
men who are pursuing the business of life with an earnestness that 
absorbs their whole being, and making haste to accomplish the pur- 
poses of ambition, stand on the threshold of the inexorable grave 
and acknowledge the fact that "all flesh is as grass," it is an event 
calculated to teach lessons of profit, if rightly considered. 

The man dies, but his deeds live. The art of printing and the 
mighty elements of nature now impressed into the service of man- 
kind give every action upon the stage of life the meed of immortal 
ity and hand down to posterity the good and the evil of each gener- 
ation. Should not this fact prompt us to an exalted patriotism and 
to earnest efforts looking to the greatest good of the greatest num- 
ber of our fellow-citizens? 

The record of Fernando Wood's life, covering an important 
period of our country's history, is full of deep interest and instruc- 
tion. He was born June 14, 1812, in the city of Philadelphia. The 
fact that his ancestors were Quakers conveys to us the idea that he 
began life with practical and solid notions of men and things. His 
parents took him to New York City in 1820, where were enacted 
the busy scenes of his earnest and eventful life. When fourteen 
years of age he became a merchant's clerk, afterward a skilled me- 
chanic; and when twenty years old we find him struggling to estab- 
lish himself in mercantile business. He battled for the prize of 
success with varied results until 1840. When only twenty-eight 
years of age his ambition, after repeated efforts, was rewarded by his 
election to the Twenty-seventh Congress. This Congress enrolled 
among its members John Quincy Adams, Millard Fillmore, Caleb 
Cushing, Robert C. Winthrop, Henry A.Wise, U. M. T. Hunter, 
and others, afterward equally honored and eminent in the annals of 



14 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF FERNANDO WOOD. 

the nation. The Senate at that time was also composed of many 
statesmen of great ability. Mr. Wood not only enjoyed the ac- 
quaintance of these eminent men, but took part in their earnest 
debates when the great and far-reaching questions of that day were 
being settled by the master minds of the Republic. Such was the 
school in which our deceased colleague was trained, where he had 
the benefit of the ablest intellects, the wisest statesmen, and the pro- 
foundest thinkers of the day. No doubt his subsequent public 
career was largely influenced by the forces imparted to his mind 
and his principles at this epoch of his life. 

During the session of this Congress Professor Morse made appli- 
cation for aid to perfect the magnetic telegraph of which he was 
the inventor; Mr, Wood had a keen appreciation of its merits, and 
acting upon his own judgment rendered him such valuable aid that 
Professor Morse in after years, and in the day of his great triumph, 
was wont to say that he regarded his success as largely due to Mr. 
Wood. 

On the expiration of his Congressional term Mr. W^ood re-entered 
mercantile life, in which he met with marked succass. In 1850 he 
again entered into the arena of politics, Avhen he was the Democratic 
candidate for mayor of the city of New York, but was defeated. In 
1854 he was again the candidate of his party and elected. During 
the term of his service he was the earnest advocate of establishing; 
the Central Park, and initiated measures which resulted in its 
becoming a success. He invited Washington Irving, George 
Bancroft, William Cullen Bryant, and other distinguished citizens 
to consult with him in devising plans for this great breathing-place 
for future millions of the metropolis. Thus was New York City 
and the Western World largely indebted to Mr. Wood for this sue- ■ 
cessful enterprise which is becoming the central school of natural 
history — of the liberal arts and the depository of relics of greatness 
and grandeur of ancient and modern times. 



ADDRESS OF Mli. HUTCH INS, OF NEW YORE. 15 

He was re-elected mayor in 1856 and again in 1859. During 
his term as chief magistrate of the city of New York he originated 
the uniforming the police, which innovation has since grown into a 
universal custom in the cities of our country. The great abuses which 
had become common in the municipal government from negligence, 
want of discipline, and executive incapacity were inquired into, and 
reformed by the assistance of his practical good sense. Evil-doers 
in their secret haunts were discovered by the enforcement of new 
police regulations, and restraint, exposure, or punishment meted out 
to them. He determined to make his adopted city a model of good 
government and he succeeded in so doing by his persistent and 
energetic efforts. It may be said of our deceased friend that during 
his administration of the office of mayor no man was ever abused 
more unsparingly than he, but he did his duty so fearlessly, and to 
all appearances so conscientiously, as to win the praise of unpreju- 
diced minds. 

Mr. Wood was returned to the Thirty-eighth Congress, and from 
that time until his death, excepting the Thirty-ninth Congress, was 
a continuous member of this body. His history for the twenty-one 
years of his Congressional career is intimately interwoven with the 
history of the period of that service, and the student will find the 
record of his acts in harmony with the best interests of the finan- 
cial management of the country, and on the vital questions of cur- 
rency, tariff, and commerce were conservative and sound, as pro- 
pounded by the best minds and the closest thinkers of his party. 
The last public measure which engaged his attention showed his 
devotion to views that he had adopted after mature consideration, 
and demonstrated also his intense earnestness in carrying them to 
a successful consummation. He came to this House at the begin- 
ning of the present scs^^ion from a sick bed. Day after day he 
consulted with his colleagues and urged upon them his convictions. 
He faltered not, though feeble in body and his vital forces nearly 



16 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF FERNANDO WOOD. 

worn out, until this, the last public measure which bears his name, 
was approved by us. When it had received our sanction, he re- 
marked, with a presentiment of his near death, " This ends a period 
of forty years' public service." Then his physical nature yielded to 
the force of disease and in a last effort to recuperate he fell a victim 
to death. 

When success runs through the warp and woof of a whole life- 
time the measure of a man's greatness is the result of his fidelity to 
popular interests. Such is the philosophy by which to form our 
judgment of public men. Judged by this rule, as a merchant, as 
the chief magistrate of the first city of the Union, as a representa- 
tive in the United States Congress of a large and intelligent constit- 
uency, the life of our late distinguished associate may be regarded 
as a triumphant success. 

In looking at the elements of Mr. Wood's character we find that 
he was self-reliant to a wonderful degree. He was active and ener- 
getic in the pursuit of every object that engaged his attention, and 
also in the discharge of all public duties. His life was a stormy 
one, and the reason is obvious when we realize that he was a man 
strong in his convictions and fearless in their expression. Hence 
he made enemies, and he seldom endeavored to conciliate them. 

The courtly dignity of his carriage and the suavity of his man- 
ners was a noted characteristic of the man. His bearing upon this 
floor was always unexceptional, and we might profit by imitating 
its propriety and befitting manliness. 

Thus having labored diligently in the public service for two-score 
years, and lived the allotted period of human life, he died with his 
armor on, a true type of the American citizen, ripe in deeds of 
public interest and full of honors. 



ADDRESS OF MR. LAPIIAM, OF NEW YORK. 1 7 



Address of Mr. Lapham, of New York. 

Mr. Speaker: It is not my purpose to dwell at length upon 
the topics naturally suggested by the occasion which has called us 
together or to pronounce an elaborate eulogy or take an extended 
biographical notice of the life and labors of our deceased colleague. 
The gentlemen who have preceded me have made it unnecessary for 
me to do so. The event is not one calculated to excite that intense 
grief we have felt at times when the Destroyer has snatched from 
our midst those who were just entering upon a public career of 
honor and usefulness. 

Mr. Wood had nearly filled up the measure allotted to human 
life, and has fallen at last, as the ripened grain falls before the 
reaper's sickle. Such a passing away is a harvest, not a blight. 

My acquaintance with him personally began with my entrance to 
the Forty-fourth Congress, in December, 1875. I thus met him as 
one of the leaders of the dominant party in this House, flushed by 
a great political victory just then achieved. I had known and 
heard of him as a most devoted partisan, and therefore watched his 
course and conduct as a Representative with more than ordinary 
care and interest. His example from that time till he left this Hall 
never to return was such that I can bear cheerful testimony how 
often he abjured partisanship and rose to the higher duties devolved 
upon him by the demands of statesmanship. Years had tempered 
the ardor of his zeal as a politician and ripened his judgment for 
the discharge of the more dignified duties of a statesman. He was 
an earnest advocate of a measure when once espoused by him, but 
he brought to its advocacy that calmness and dignity which ren- 
dered his earnestness less offensive to those with whom he differed 
in opinion. Which one of all those who listened to him in one of 
his last efforts on this floor will ever forget the example in this 
2 w 



18 LIFE AND CHARACTEB OF FERNANDO WOOD. 

respect which he has left for our imitation — the patient earnest- 
ness with which he pressed to a conclusion a measure which he had 
come to believe so deeply concerned the public welfare and which 
his impressive and eloquent words proved he was conscious would 
be the last and crowning act of a long and eventful public service 
here ! He had convinced himself that a government loan at 3 per 
cent, interest could be successfully floated (a conclusion in which I 
then thought and still think he was in error). His colleague [Mr. 
Hutchins], who has preceded me on this occasion, had taken issue 
with him upon the subject. "Such a loan [said he] as is here pro- 
posed has never been floated. 1 do not believe it can be." The 
closing sentences of Mr. Wood's reply, to which reference has 
already been made, were in these words : 

Tliis nation stands to-day upon lier imperial power. Her resources in the 
earth and above the earth, in the manly industry and energy of her people 
are as ten to one compared with those of any other nation in the world. I, 
for one, in the expiring hours of a public life of forty years, will never con- 
sent that this great country shall hawk its credit through the money markets 
of the world. 

This was on the 15th of January last. On the 19th the bill 
passed the House. His work was done. His labors as a Repre- 
sentative were ended. He left the theater in which he had so long 
been a prominent actor, never to return. This was not to have 
been the close of his service had his life been spared. He had 
been honored by an election to the Forty-seventh Congress. His 
touching allusion to the "expiring hours" of his "public life" 
foreshadowed the end which so soon came. 

A greater than any living writer has said : 

The sense of death is most in apprehension. 
And the poor beetle, that we tread upon, 
In corporal sufferance linds a pang as great 
As when a giant dies. 

This sense our departed friend most clearly realized, and yet his 



ADDEESS OF Mil. LOUNSBEEY, OF NEW YORK. 19 

resolute, manly, and almost perilous struggle with the great enemy 
in the weary journey he undertook — the eifort thus made to 

Hold death a while at the arm's end — 
was characteristic of the energy manifested in his whole life, and of a 
determination to spare no effort to avert for a time his coming fate. 

At least we'll die with harness on our back— 
was the language of his example. 

And so, dying in a distant State, his mortal remains were returned 
by loving hands and with official fidelity and care to the residence 
in this city where he had so many years dispensed a generous and 
almost princely hospitality, and where his obsequies were held, to 
be taken thence to the place he had selected for their burial. 

Mr. Wood's services as a Representative (and it is of him in 
that respect that I speak) were of the most exalted character. He 
was industrious and punctual in the performance of every duty. 
He avoided no labor properly cast upon him. He was kind to all 
classes of applicants for favor in legislation who sought his aid and 
whose claims he believed just. He was also courteous to younger 
and less experienced members of the House. In the committee- 
room and on the floor he was a model Representative. We shall 
miss his manly presence among us; and it may be many years 
before, in these respects, we shall look upon his like again. 



Address of Mr. LouNSBERY, of New York. 
Mr. Speaker : The voice of my colleague but lately sounded 
in this Hall. To-day it is forever hushed. His body lies sepul- 
chered with the dead. The mournful duties of his associates con- 
nected with his obsequies close with the present hour. I shall not 
indulge in fulsome adulation ; but I shall mingle with others in 
making a truthful portraiture of a life largely devoted to the pub- 
lic service, and ended while engaged in a most earnast and exhaust- 



20 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF FERNANDO WOOD. 

ing struggle in the interest of his country. I would render here 
the lesson of his life, bred of self-instruction and determined eifort; 
projected among a people of which he was truly a part, and ended 
amid duties that had become congenial to his habits and nature. 

Fernando Wood was born in 1812, at Philadelphia, where his 
parents were temporarily residing. He was reared in New York 
City. At the age of thirteen years, on his own account, but with 
the consent of his parents, he took employment in a book-store, 
and thenceforward supported himself and educated himself. Very 
young he took part in the local politics of his city, and at the age 
of twenty-eight was elected to Congress from one of the city dis- 
tricts, and served for two years in the same Congress with Daniel 
Webster, Henry Clay, and John C. Calhoun, forming an intimate 
acquaintance with the two latter. 

He returned at the end of his term, with his business broken up 
by his political services and with the resolve never more to par- 
ticipate in politics, but to devote himself exclusively to building- 
up a fortune. He adhered to this resolution until he had succeeded 
to his satisfaction. He had been successful in business. He had 
built up a shipping trade which, with several fortunate ventures, 
had made him in 1854 an accumulation of gains on which he felt 
justified in retiring from active business. He had had the sagacity 
when the gold discoveries made California a field for adventures 
to land several cargoes of goods at San Francisco and with the 
profits to purchase real estate there. He also bought real estate in 
New York City, and with the growing prosperity of the country 
he became a man of wealth as that word was used at that time. 
. He then again felt able to indulge his old fondness for politics, 
and he was elected mayor of New York in 1854 and re-elected 
for two subsequent terms. In 1862 he was elected to a seat in 
Congress from the ninth New York district, and he has without 
break held this seat. It seemed to be the fixed determination of 




ADDRESS OF Mk^m'^^^^.Y, OF NEW YORK. 21 

his constituents to continue him in Congress till his death. At 
the last election, though continuously confined to his house by 
sickness, and though his party was divided by rival factions, he 
was again elected to his tenth successive term. This terra, by 
reason of his death, he has not been able to enter upon. 

His Cono-ressional services connect the deceased with an eventful 
period of his country's history. He sat in this Hall while the 
Representatives of many of the States were absent from their seats 
by secession ; while a war of the sections was in active progress ; 
while reconstruction was emerging by conflicting propositions; 
while the waste of war was giving place to restoration ; and while 
the credit of the country was being rebuilt. When his party came 
again to a majority in this House he was made chairman of the 
Committee on Ways and Means. He participated in the enact- 
ment of laws that tended to returning prosperity. He participated 
in the triumphs of a coin resumption by the Treasury. He saw 
the government bonds aj)preciated in the markets of the world. 
His voice has hardly yet died along the walls of this Chamber in 
the eloquent expression of his confidence in the government credit 
and in its ability to refund its redeemable indebtedness at the rate 
of 3 per cent. 

I was one of many interested witnesses of his last and most 
earnest effort. His voice was already broken by approaching dis- 
solution, but his mind was clear. He seemed determined to leave 
this act impressed upon the financial history of his country as a 
monument to his legislative career. Those who saw the dying 
statesman as he retired from the House after the result of the vote 
upon his bill had been announced were irresistibly reminded of the 
words of the dyiri^ Adams : 

Thia is the last of earth, and I am content. 

This picture in outline is that of a successful career. Of emi- 
nence achieved as a legislator under such circumstances as make his 



22 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF FERNANDO WOOD. 

case, though not exceptional, sufficiently rare to mark it as a nota- 
ble event. Though educated to trade, he was not unsuccessful as 
an orator. Without the learning of the books he had become cult- 
ured in state-craft. He was the representative of a class of public 
men in his country who have succeeded by a positive purpose with- 
out the aid of erudition. He was peculiarly the child of his city, 
and was honored by it because he so fitly represented its growth 
and its practical habits and methods. 

The deceased was magnificent without ostentation. When he 
was carrying on a shipping trade with immense profits his office 
was small and ill-furnished. His residence in New York, though 
princely in its extent and in its appointments, was plain and with- 
out ornament to attract the eye of the stranger. At his home in 
Washington, where he was beyond precedent liberal in his hospi- 
tality, he did nothing to attract observation. His funeral obse- 
quies were conducted according to his wishes in such manner as to 
repel public demonstration to his memory. 

The deceased had much store in his family and his fireside. He 
leaves a surviving family of eleven children, not spoiled by tender- 
ness, but reared under the affectionate eye of a devoted father. 

His will, drawn when he had reason to expect a speedy death, 
shows that his chief concern was to make ample provision for the 
care of his afflicted widow. 

We have put away in his tomb our distinguished associate. A 
column has fallen not easily replaced. I mourn in him a lost 
friend. The country has no longer his wise and devoted counsels. 
His fireside is desolated of his care and protection. We have left 
only the recollection of a history rounded out to a ripe and com- 
plete fruition. We can rest alone in the remembrance of his 

achievements — 

For memory is the only friend 
That grief cau call her own. 



ADDRESS OF MR. WRIGHT, OF PENNSYLVANIA. 23 

Address of Mr. Wright, of Pennsylvania. 

Mr. Speaker : I rise under a deep feeling of emotion. I have 
parted with a life-long friend. For the last forty years Mr. Wood 
and myself have been connected with many of the political events 
which have successively excited this country; and in his departure 
I feel as though I was separated from a personal friend Avith whom 
I have been associated during that long period of time. 

Mr. Wood was my junior by some four years. The last con- 
versation I had with him was in this Hall, and I inquired of him 
with regard to his age. He told me he was born on the day that 
the American Congress declared war against Great Britain in 1812. 
He was therefore four years my junior. According to the ordinary 
course of events I should have gone before him. But such is hu- 
man destiny. We cannot tell what an hour will bring forth. 

I am feeble to-night, but I will try to make a few remarks and 
make myself audible. They cannot be extended. If I were to 
give a general summary of the character of Fernando Wood I 
would say he was a man of great industry, of strong wdll, and posi- 
tive attributes ; that his character for integrity was unquestioned. 
He filled all his high offices with dignity and purity. He was 
tenacious of his opinions. They were the result of labor and re- 
search as well as the result of honest convictions, convictions formed, 
not at random, but conclusions deduced from the power of educated 
and trained thought. Inferences from facts, from long experience 
in public and private aifairs. 

As a statesman his ideas were bold, yet conservative. He stood 
high in the estimation of his colleagues, and in the conflict of opin- 
ions his sincerity was never questioned. He was courteous in his 
manner, not offensive in debate, frank, open, manly, true, and reli- 
able as a friend, and, better than all, he was a gentleman. That is 



24 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF FERNANDO WOOD. 

my summary of the character of my colleague and my late distin- 
guished friend. 

That he was a man of industry and strong will is manifest by the 
manner in which he began the great battle of life. Born in my 
native State, which fact always attached me the more to him, born 
in humble circumstances, apprenticed in his boyhood, still having 
always that indomitable will as an element of his character, there 
was no power that could resist his onward march, and onward he 
did march ; and he marched to conquest and victory, disregarding 
the ordinary obstacles in the pathway of life. 

He entered into mercantile life, and in that he exhibited sagacity 
and showed that he knew how to manage and control his affairs ; 
when he had accumulated a fortune he had the judgment and dis- 
cretion to take care of it. That shows conclusively his great indus- 
try, his strong wall, his positive attributes. 

Let me stop here a moment to turn away from the ordinary chain 
of ceremonies of this kind and say that it is men of such character, 
men born in obscurity, with will and foresight, and power, who 
have laid the corner-stones of our great government; and to their 
arms we are to intrust the safety and custody of it in all time to 
come. Mr. Wood was a living example of wliat industry, temper- 
ance, and labor can accomplish. 

Jjeaving Philadelphia, passing through his apprenticeshi23, accu- 
mulating a fortune as a merchant and showing that he knew how 
to take care of it, he entered into public life. He became the mayor 
of the great metropolis of this great country. No man to-day can 
raise his voice and say that Fernando Wood, in the high office 
that he held as the mayor of New York, ever failed to discharge 
properly the duties of that office. He was always at his post, al- 
ways maintaining the character and dignity of his position, and also 
maintaining the purity of his own life and conduct. 

When he came into public life — I know the time well, because 



ADDRESS OF MR. WRIGHT, OF PENNSYLVANIA. 25 

I hatl been in public life some years before him — when he came 
into public life there was a class of men from whom he received 
his earliest instructions such as never again will exist in this 
country. Why it should be so I do not know. I say nothing 
in derogation of the character of those who now occupy these two 
Chambers. 

But there was a galaxy of power and learning, influence and integ- 
rity, especially in the Senate of the United States, when Fernando 
Wood entered into public life that never before existed, and perhaps 
never will again. 

There is but one way in which history can repeat itself with regard 
to the restoration in the Senate of men of the powers possessed by 
those who held seats in that body at that time. That was a time 
when men were selected by the States to represent them always with 
an eye solely to their ability and qualification. I stand here to-day 
at three score and ten, and I can afford to say it, and I dare say it, 
that is not the rule now. There are, of course, exceptions. It was 
in the training of those men with whom Mr. Wood associated that 
upon his mind were made those deep impressions of the honor and 
the integrity which characterized him as a man and statesman. 

So far as he had anything to say in this Chamber during the de- 
bates of the last four years, you will find that there was no acrimony, 
no effort made to excite ill-will on the part of his adversaries. He 
followed strictly the line of his argument, and the position he main- 
tained in carrying it out was sustained by dignity. You all know 
that who have seen the grand old form standing at his place here 
in this Chamber arguing questions of State. You all have felt im- 
pressed with the idea that he was a man who could talk to the point, 
talk sense and avoid all ideas and expressions which would produce 
acrimony, and which sometimes lead to very bad and serious results. 
In this particular ]Mr. Wood enjoyed a proud and enviable posi- 
tion. 



26 LIFE AND CHARACTEli OF FERNANDO WOOD. 

I said he was tenacious of his opinions ; no man was more so. 
They were opinions that he had formed after deep research. He 
differed with me in regard to many questions of state policy, par- 
ticularly in his ideas as to revenue. I thought none the less of 
him, though. He was manly; he did not conceal his opinions, he 
spoke them right out freely and without concealment. 

As regards his standing, according to our idea and definition of 
statesmanship, we would not be justified perhaps in placing him in 
that higher circle. He was upon the plane below, but upon a plane 
where he could exercise his influence and his power and do as much 
good for the public as though he had occupied the plane that was 
above him. 

He was tenacious of his opinions to a remarkable extent. Many 
a contest have I had with him in regard to those matters, especially 
during the last twenty years. I do not now speak as to political 
issues ; they are out of place here to-night. 

He was born in Pennsylvania but reared in New York — by birth 
a son of the great Keystone State; by adoption a son of tlie great 
Empire State. He was a true type of those two great States lying 
side by side, anchors of safety in revolution, and anchors of safety 
and indexes of public opinion in all time to come. He was a type 
of the character of those two great States lying in the center of the 
territory of this nation. 

I have stated, in the general summary I have given of his char- 
acter, that he was a courteous man. You all know that; it is need- 
less for me to repeat it. Gentle in manner, kind in action, the last 
man on God's earth to offend, it never entered his mind to utter a 
word to hurt the feelings of his opponent, whether he was above 
him in the social or political scale or below him. He was courteous 
in his manner out of this Hall as well as in it. He was a model 
statesman, because his training had been such as a statesman should 
receive, riaving been thus trained in early life, the impressions 



ADDRESS OF MR. COFFROTH, OF PENNSYLVAXIA. 27 

then made upon his mind were never thrown off. The mantle 
which he took upon himself in 1840 in the society of the men of 
those days was never changed, and was interred with him. 

As I said when I arose, I feel under a deep sense of embarrass- 
ment, because I am reminded of an event which must happen to 
me in a very short time. I hear the knocking at the door. I feel 
as though a part of me had gone in my social and political life, as 
though the man who had been by my side in political issues for the 
past forty years had left me. I feel now that in the absence of an 
old friend and distinguished statesman from his seat in this body 
that, so far as I am concerned, it is a banquet hall deserted. 



Address of Mr. Coffroth, of Pennsylvania. 

Mr. Speaker : We are again called upon to mourn the loss of 
one of our number. Our deceased brother lived to nearly the 
period of time allotted to man. When we met here in December 
last we little thought that before the close of this session the seat 
of Fernando Wood would be draped with the pall of mourning 
and decorated with white flowers — the emblem of the pure in 
death. He entered upon his duties with all the appearance of 
having many years of usefulness before him. His arduous labors 
as chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means, and his unre- 
lenting exertions during the pendency of the refunding bill, wore 
heavily upon his constitution, and it gave way faster than any of 
his friends anticipated. When, in the discussion of the refunding 
bill, on the 16th of January last, he declared, "I, for one, in the 
expiring hours of a public life of forty years, will never consent 
that this great country shall hawk its credit through the money 
markets of the world," none of us had the remotest idea that these 
were among the last words of a dying statesman who had for many 



28 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF FERNANDO WOOD. 

years given his time, intellect, and energy to the good of his 
country. 

He left this Hall aft^r the passage of the refunding bill to seek 
rest and to restore his shattered health ; but, alas ! he will never re- 
turn again. God, in His divine wisdom, has called him away, and 

How pale appear 
Those clay-cold cheeks where grace and vigor glowed! 
Oh, dismal spectacle! How humble now 
Lies that ambition which was late so proud! 

I will not at any length recount the many positions held by 
Fernando Wood. He was born in the city of Philadelphia 
on the 14th of June, 1812, and is of Quaker parentage. At 
nineteen years of age he commenced business as a shipping mer- 
chant in the city of New York, from which business he retired 
with an ample fortune in 1850. He was first elected to Congress 
in 1840, and was a member thereof in the years 1841, 1842, and 
1843. He was three times elected mayor of the city of New York, 
serving as such during the years 1855, 1856, 1857, 1861, and 
1862. He was then elected to the Thirty-eighth Congress, being 
regularly in attendance at its sessions and gained great distinction 
by his course. He was again elected in 1866 to the Fortieth Con- 
gress, .and has been a member from that time until the date of his 
death, which occurred at the Hot Springs, in Arkansas, on Sunday 
evening, the 20th of February instant. 

It can be truly said of Fernando Wood that his was an eventful 
life. He was an eloquent and captivating public speaker. The first 
public speech I heard him make was during the sitting of the Demo- 
cratic National Convention, in 1860, at Charleston, South Caro- 
lina. His speeches in Congress have evinced rare ability, and have 
placed his name in the category of the great statesmen who have 
preceded him. He has forever gone from us, and his death will 
be mourned as a public loss, and in tlie private circles of life many 



ADDRESS OF MB. COFFROTH, OF PENNSYLVANIA. 29 

loving hands will strew flowers over his grave, while others will 
shed tears over his demise, because he m^^s the common benefactor 
of the poor and needy. 

Mr. Speaker, death is a frequent visitor to these Halls, and we 
are appalled when the summons comes — 

Yet, tell me frighted senses ; Wliat is death ? 

Blood only stopped, and interrupted breath ; 

The utmost limit of a narrow span. 

And end of motion, which with life began. 

As smoke that rises from the kindling fires, 

Is seen this moment, and the next expires ; 

As mighty clouds by rising winds arc tost. 

Their fleeting forms scarce sooner fonnd than lost. 

So vanishes our state, so pass our days. 

So life but opens now, and now decays ; 

The cradle and the tomb, alas ! so nigh. 

To live is scarce distinguished from to die. 

Mr. Speaker, on the first Monday of December, 1863, after an 
absence of twenty years, Fernando Wood reappeared as a mem- 
ber of the Thirty-eighth Congress. You and I made our first ap- 
pearance as members at that time. Time has made sad and lament- 
able havoc with our then colleagues. We call the roll and ask. 
Where is Pennsylvania's " Old Commoner," Thaddeus Stevens ? 
The answer comes — he is dead ! Where is the warm and impetu- 
ous Meyer Strouse? The answer is — he is dead! Then we desire 
to know of that noble patriot, Philip Johnson ; and the answer 
is — he is dead ! Then we ask. Where is the pleasant and kind- 
hearted Charles Dennison ? The answer comes — he is dead ! We 
inquire next. Where is the eloquent and noble-hearted William H. 
Miller ? and the answer again comes — he is dead ! The inquiry is 
then made for the intelligent jurist, James T. Hale ; and we are 
again answered — he is dead ! We then call the name of the earnest 
and able advocate of the homestead law, John L. Dawson ; and 
we are answered — he is dead ! The inquiry then comes, Where is 
the distinguished Thomas Williams ? The answer again is given — 



30 LIFE AND CHAR AC TEE OF FERNANDO WOOD. 

he is dead ! And last, but not least, we call the name of that 
generous and noble man, Jesse Lazear ; and the answer comes in 
mournful accents — he is dead ! 

Yes, these associates and colleagues of our first Congress have 
been taken from their families and their country by the hand of 
death. When we look over this Cliamber we only see eight mem- 
bers now here who were members of the Thirty -eighth Congress — 
four from Pennsylvania, the Speaker of this House, Mr. William 
D. Kelley, Mr. Charles O'Neill, and myself; one from Iowa, Mr. 
Hiram Price ; one now from New York, but then from Ohio, Mr. 
Samuel S. Cox ; one from Illinois, Mr. William R. Morrison ; and 
one from Indiana, Mr. Godlove S. Orth. These eight mourn the 
loss of their deceased brother not only because of their associations 
with him in this, but on account of their association with him com- 
mencing with the beginning of the Thirty-eighth Congress. Hav- 
ing been acquainted with him for so long a period of time, we 
learned to love him for his kind heart, his generous disposition, 
and his aifable treatment of all his associates. He had no disposi- 
tion to utter unkind words whereby a thorn might be left rankling 
in the bare nerves of the heart, but his every word and action had 
a tendency to draw men to him in bonds of friendship, and soothe 
every contending passion into serene contentment. 

Mr. Speaker, death shadows our pathway on every side. Since 
the convening of the present Congress three Senators, Mr. Zacha- 
riah Chandler, of the State of Michigan; Mr. George S. Houston, 
of the State of Alabama ; and Mr. Matthew H. Carpenter, of the 
State of Wisconsin ; and four members of the House, Mr. Rush 
Clark, of the State of Iowa ; Mr. Alfred M. Lay, of the State of 
Missouri ; Mr. Evarts W. Farr, of the State of New Hampshire, 
and our deceased brother for whom we now mourn, Mr. Fer- 
nando Wood, of the State of New York, have been removed 
from the councils of the nation by the unerring archer. Death. 



ADDRESS OF MB. COVERT, OF NEW YORK. 31 

In view of these lessons of mortality, to each one of us comes 

the injunction — 

So live that when thy siiiumons comes to join 
The innumerable caravan which moves 
To that mysterious realm, where each shall take 
His chamber in the silent halls of death, 
Thou go not, like the quarry slave at night, 
Scourged to his dungeon, but, sustained and soothed 
By an unfaltering trust, approach the grave 
Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch 
About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams. 



Address of Mr. Covert, of New York. 

Mr. Speaker: Sorrow finds fittest expression oftentimes in 
silence. It rules in a realm which is sacred, but its sway is disputed 
always by duty. I should stand mute to-night in my place in this 
Hall, did not this joint ruler, duty, itself sad-eyed and sorrowful, 
beckon me to speak. It would be more grateful and perhaps more 
fitting if I remained mute of lip while the voice of the heart only 
responded to the kindly words others have spoken of him who, 
living, was my friend, and who, dead, I most sincerely mourn. And 
speaking, what shall I say of him whose name was familiar to the 
ears of thousands for nearly half a century? What shall I say of 
him whose presence was so familiar to us all in this chamber? Of 
him who, after nearly twenty years of faithful service in this House, 
has made his last appeal to us, has answered his last roll-call, and 
has passed out from this Chamber, never again to enter its portals? 

You knew — who know not Astrophel? 

Alas ! that I should say I knew. 
And have not in possession still ! 

Things known permit me to renew. 
Of him, you know his merit such 
I cannot say — you liear — too much. 

The life record of my late colleague has about it, in parts, the 
elements of romance, if we define romance to be that which is strange 



32 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF FERNANDO WOOD. 

and out of the ordinaiy courses and conditions of events. He came 
from the ranks of the people, from an ancestry strong and sturdy 
and self-respecting. The elements of mental strength and self- 
respect thus inherited were through his whole life distinguishing 
traits of his character. When Fernando Wood was born to the 
world he came as a born leader of men. Passing his earlier days 
in comparative obscurity, he even then nursed an ambition which 
he knew and felt would raise him above his surroundings. Even 
in his youthful days he was prince absolute among his associates, as 
in later years he ruled at seasons almost a king among men. It is 
related of him that even in these youthful days the methods by 
which he acquired dominion among the younger men with whom 
he affiliated were seemingly peculiar. In his association with them 
he was temperate in his habits ; while affable, he was never unduly 
familiar, and there was nothing in his manner or methods that sug- 
gested any unbending to secure favor. 

He preserved always around and about him a peculiar atmos- 
phere of personal dignity which gained for him an equally peculiar 
quality of personal respect. His education had not been of a liberal 
character, and during all the time he was thus building up his 
leadership he was a hard and devoted student. He grew rapidly 
in the confidence and respect of the people by whom he was sur- 
rounded, and forty years ago he took his seat in Congress as its 
youngest member. As has been intimated by my distinguished 
friend from Virginia [Mr. Tucker], there were some illustrious 
names on the muster-roll of that Congress. Webster, Clay, 
Calhoun, Benton, Silas Wright, Rufus Choate, Quincy Adams, 
Buchanan, and Cushing were among his associates. The young 
New York member was becomingly modest, but at the same time 
becomingly self-reliant and self-respecting always in the presence and 
companionship of these distinguished statesmen. He was for months 
a silent student of political economy and of parliamentary practice. 



ADBBESS OF MB. COVERT, OF NEW YORK. 33 

I am glad my colleague [Mr. Hutchins] has alluded to one fact iu 
his early Congressional career. It was not until Professor Morse 
had in vain solicited Congress to aid in the establishment of a short 
line of telegraph to prove the utility of his invention that the 
young member from New York attracted any public attention to 
his Congressional work. The inventor had met with disappoint- 
ment and rebuff everywhere. The older members of Congress, 
immersed in affairs of state, had treated him with coldness and indif- 
ference. Mr. Wood advocated his measure, and with such success 
that Congress was led finally to authorize the experiment. The 
result was the triumph of the invention which has since "put a 
girdle round about the earth." 

Science, and scientists the wide world over owe to Fernando 
Wood a deep debt of gratitude, and to his memory a peculiar meas- 
ure of respect in this connection. The world at large has, I fear, 
never sufficiently appreciated the full value of the service he thus 
generously and bravely rendered. The act was characteristic of the 
man. In the face of ridicule and of prophecy of failure, he fear- 
lessly stood as the champion of a project doomed, seemingly, to 
defeat, and fought the measure through to an assured and pro- 
nounced success. This peculiar element of boldness under seem- 
ingly adverse circumstances, thus early exhibited, was to the very 
day of his death always a distinguishing feature in the character of 
our late associate. 

The period during which Mr. Wood acted as mayor of New 
York City was crowded thick with stirring events. The circum- 
stances which led to his election to the mayoralty and his adminis- 
tration of the affairs of his office formed fruitful themes for 
discussion, not only in his municipality, but throughout the whole 
country, more than a quarter of a century ago. I have not the 
time to discuss these matters in detail or even barely to allude to 
them save only to say that they, too, illustrated most forcibly the 
3 w ' 



34 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF FERNANDO WOOD. 

characteristics I have mentioned — the possession of the highest form 
of personal boldness and self-reliance under exciting and most diffi- 
cult conditions. Many are living to-day who opposed the policy 
of Mr. Wood as mayor of New York City; but there are few, I 
think, even of his then bitterest opponents, who will deny that his 
control of aifairs was marked by great strength — by a regard for 
the city's interest from his stand-point, and by a very high order of 
administrative ability. 

About twenty years ago Mr. W^OOD was again sent to Congress, 
and ever since then, up to his death, he continuously held a seat in 
this House. He early distinguished himself here for the strength 
and individuality of his opinions. He stood at times with the 
minority of the political party to which he belonged. Not applause 
from the majority ; not public clamor; not the solicitation of friends 
nor the taunts of enemies could make him retreat from a position once 
thoughtfully taken, or surrender a judgment once finally formed. 

While Mr. Wood was regarded perhaps as a man of action rather 
than of words, he was yet always an effective and most forcible 
speaker. The records of this House will show that while his 
addresses were not always decked with the flowers of rhetoric, they 
were yet at all times direct, logical, and earnest. It is needless to 
add that he never spoke for display. The time of this House 
was always a sacred thing to him, and it was only when occasion 
demanded it that he rose to speak, and rising was always accorded 
that attention given to one personally respected and whose counsels 
were entitled to regard. 

Those who have preceded me, his older associates on the floor, 
and those who were his colleagues on committees, gentlemen who 
have been for years closely associated with him in his Congressional 
labors, have spoken fully of his public services, and have borne 
warm and eloquent and truthful testimony to their character and 
value. Reference has been made more than once to the last public 



ADDRESS OF MR. COVERT, OF NEW YORK. 35 

act of his life — his advocacy of his refunding measure. I had 

especial opportunities to observe the loyalty and devotion with 

which he gave almost his last hours to the passage of this bill 

through the House. Feeble and suffering, with the cold touch of 

death almost upon him, against the advice of his physicians, in 

opposition to the entreaties of his family and friends, he attended 

day after day the sessions of this House until his bill was passed. 

My friend from Kentucky [Mr. McKenzie] has said to me that 

at once upon the passage of the measure he passed over to Mr. 

Wood's seat and congratulated him upon the result; not only 

because of the success he had achieved, but because it would afford 

him an opportunity for the rest he so much needed. The pale 

cheek did not blanch, the eye quail, nor the voice falter, as Mr. 

Wood replied : 

Sir, I have but a few honra more to live, and I ^vould die here in my place 
in this House if it were necessary I should remain. 

This unswerving devotion to what he deemed his duty was only 
in continuation of what had been the usage of his whole public 
life. He was leal and loyal always to what he regarded as official 
obligation. He was brave and faithful always in the discharge of 
official duty. 

One of the earliest of our public men, himself an exemplar of 
the best and sweetest human virtues, has written : 

See that thou copy no man save in the mat.er of faithfulness. 

If we who to-night mourn our dead associate, and who try by 
what expression we may to do reverence to his memory, seek earn- 
estly to copy Fernando Wood only in this one regard — faithful- 
ness to official obligation — he wall not have lived and labored, he 
will not have died, in vain. But there were other elements in the 
character of our associate eminently worthy to stand as models for 
us to imitate and to emulate. There are many gentlemen in this 
Chamber to-night who have seen him in the midst of excited 



36 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF FERNANDO WOOD. 

debate, when discussion upon the largest public measures had called 
forth the strongest passion of our natures. I doubt if he was ever 
known to so far forget himself as to wantonly say one word, even 
in these scenes of intense excitement, to wound the heart of any 
man, to needlessly use one expression that in his calmest moments 
might not have been appropriately uttered. 

Dignified, as befitted his position here — and his was a graceful 
dignity that seemed inborn and natural to the man — he was in his 
public life, in all his intercourse with associates and friends, essen- 
tially a gentleman. I desire to emphasize what my venerable friend 
from Pennsylvania [Mr. Wright] has too briefly said on this gen- 
eral point, not only because this characteristic was his to a large, 
even to a pronounced, degree, but because this was an element in 
his character that might be modeled after with profit by us all. It 
suggests a rule of conduct brought physically to our senses by the 
example of our dead friend more emphatically than Thackeray 
states it when he says : 

Come wealth or want, come good or ill, 

Let young and old accept their part ; 
And bow before the awful Will, 

Aud bear it with an honest heart, 
Who misses or who wins the prize. 

Go, lose or conquer as you can ; 
But if you fail, or if you rise, 

Be each, pray God, a gentleman. 

I fear, Mr. Speaker, that what I have said may have seemed too 
like a cold analysis of what many regard as the leading traits in 
the character of one who since I have held a seat on this floor, up 
to the time of his death, honored me with his friendship, and who 
was more than kind to me always. I have spoken of Mr. Wood 
more perhaps as the Avorld saw him and had learned to regard 
him — able, ambitious, polished, courtly, and devoted to the de- 
mands of official station. 

He had other traits which the great world did not so fully 



AlWRESS OF MR. COVERT, OF NEW YORK. 37 

understand. I know that I can speak for the whole junior mem- 
bership of this House when I bear testimony to Mr, Wood's 
unvarying courtesy to them at all times, and the kindness of heart 
which characterized his intercourse with them under all circum- 
stances. He was ever ready to encourage right effort on their 
part, ever willing to give to them words of kindly counsel and 
suggestion. I hazard nothing in expressing the belief that he 
found greater pleasure in doing acts of courtesy and kindness to 
his younger associates on this floor — and that from the purest 
motives — than to those who had already made honored names and 
had established for themselves national reputations. 

Perhaps I have no right to speak of my late colleague in his 
domestic relations. The home which has been saddened and the 
home ties which have been severed by his death seem too sacred 
almost for discussion here ; but it was in his household that the 
true inner character of Fernando Wood revealed itself. The 
ambitious leader, he who Jn his working hours was devoted to 
state-craft, at his home became the fond father and easily approached 
companion, the head of a domestic circle that looked up to and 
loved and reverenced him. This charmed circle is broken now 
and stricken by a grief which no words of ours can soothe. We 
have draped the desk of our late associate in mourning. At his 
broken home is a vacant place, around which his loved ones gather, 
and where there is no need of visible token to tell them of their 
loss. It is present in his very absence; it is felt in the weary 
and unsatisfied longing 

For the touch of a vanished hand, 
And the sound of a voice that is still. 

We can but show to those who are thus nearly and sorely stricken 
that this Congress has paused near the closing hours of its session 
to express to them and to the country its deep sense of the loss 
which they and the nation have alike sustained. 



38 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF FERNANDO WOOD. 

It seems difficult to realize that Fernando Wood is dead ; 
that the name so familiar to thousands will never again be voiced 
in the tone in which we call the name of the living. His name, 
honored in life, has now the added dignity which comes of death. 
Though he has passed from among us, he will live in the archives 
of the city whose chief magistrate he was, and in the records of the 
Federal Congress, where for so many years he held distinguished 
place. He will yet live in the thoughts of those who were his 
associates, and in the minds of the many whose interests he pro- 
tected and wdiom he most devotedly served. 

It is a beautiful tradition — that which prevailed with some of the 
people of Germany — that the spirit of one of their dead kings, Avho 
in his life was revered and honored, sometimes revisits the land of 
his love. When the moon sheds down its softest and its sweetest 
beams upon the earth, the spirit of the good king descends, and, pass- 
ing over the land, blesses corn-field and meadow, and whispers low 
upon the night-wind words of wise counsel to his people. 

Let us hope that when they who have been devoted to the pub- 
lic service are taken from us, their labors sharply stopped by the 
quick decree of death, the influence of their presence may still be 
felt in their accustomed places. Let us seek for the counsels they 
would utter could they but speak them. Let us listen for the re- 
sponses they would make could they but reply to our questionings. 

If these conditions may prevail, Fernando Wood, though we 
mourn him dead, will yet remain to us, and will, far into the 
future, live and labor for the people whom he served so long, so 
faithfully, and so well. 

The resolutions submitted by Mr. Cox were then unanimously 
agreed to. 

In pursuance of one of the resolutions just adopted (at nine 
o'clock and fifty-five minutes p. m.) the House adjourned. 



PROCEEDINGS IN THE SENATE. 



February 14, 1881. 

A message from the House of Representatives, by Mr. Theodore 
F. King, one of its clerks, communicated to the Senate intelligence 
of the death of Hon. Fernando Wood, late a Representative from 
the State of New York, and transmitted the action of the House 
thereon. 

Mr. Bayard. I ask that the resolution of the House be reported. 

The Presiding Officer. The message will be read. 

The Chief Clerk read as follows : 

In the House of Representatives, 

February 14, 1881. 

Besolved, That this House has heard with deep regret of the death of Hon. 
FERNANDOi-WooD, late a Representative from the State of New York. 

Resolved, That a coinmittee of nine members be appointed by the Speaker 
to take order for siiperiutending the funeral of Mr. Wood ; and that, as a mark 
of the respect entertained by the House for his memory, his remains be removed 
from Hot Springs, Arkansas, to the city of New York in charge of the Sergeaut- 
at-Arms, and attended by said committee, who shall have full power to carry 
this resolution into effect. 

Resolved, That the Clerk communicate the foregoing resolutions to the Sen- 
ate. 

Resolved, That, as an additional mark of respect to the memory of the de- 
ceased, the House do now adjourn. 

Mr. Bayard. Mr. President, I oifer the following resolutions 
and ask for their present consideration : 

Resolved, That the Senate has received with sensibility the message of the 
House of Represeutatives announcing the death of Hon. Fernando Wood, a 
Representative from the State of New York. 

Resolved, That, as a mark of respect for the memory of the deceased, the Sen- 
ate do now adjourn. 

The resolutions were unanimously agreed to ; and (at four o'clock 
and fifty-five minutes p. m.) the Senate adjourned. 

February 19, 1881. 
A message*from the House of Representatives announced that the 
House had passed a resolution for its adjournment this day at two 



40 LIFE AND CHAUACTER OF FERNANDO WOOD. 

o'clock p. m. as a mark of respect to the memory of Hon. Fer- 
NAN'DO Wood, late Representative from the State of New York. 

Mr. Kernan. I ask that the resolutions received from the House 
of Representatives be read. 

The Chief Clerk read as follows: 

In the House of Representatives, 

February 19, 18«1. 

Resolved, Tliat, as a mark of respect to tlie raeuioi-y of Hon. Fernando 
Wood, late a Eepreseutative from the State of New York, and in order to 
permit the members and offlcers of this House to attend his funeral from his 
late residence in this city at three o'clock p. m., this House will adjourn this 
day at two o'clock p. m. 

Resolved, That the Clerk communicate the foregoing resolution to the 
Senate, with an invitation to the members of the Senate to join the members 
of the House in attending said funeral. 

Mr. Kernan submitted the following resolutions ; which were 
considered, by unanimous consent, and agreed to : 

Resolved, That, pursuant to the invitation of the House of Repl^sentatives, 
the Senate will adjourn this day at two o'clock i). m. in order to permit the 
members and ofticers of the Senate to attend the funeral of Hon. Fernando 
Wood, late a member of the House of Representatives from the State of New 
York, at his late residence in this city, at three o'clock p. m. 

Resolved, That the Secretary communicate the foregoing resolution to the 
House of Representatives. 

February 22, 1881. 
A message from the House of Representatives, by Mr. George 
M. Adams, its Clerk, announced that the House had set apart next 
Sunday, February 27, at three o'clock p. m., for the observance of 
the ceremonies in memory of Hon. Fernando Wood, late a mem- 
ber of this House from the State of New York, and extending an 
invitation to the Senate to attend in the House at that hour and 
participate in the ceremonies. 

February 26, 1881. 

A message from the House of Representatives advised the Senate 
that the House had postponed the ceremonies fixed for Sunday 
(to-morrow) at three p. m. in commemoration of Hon. Fernando 
Wood until Mondav evenino; at eisrht o'clock. 



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